Admittedly, I have a real fetish for technology, but if you believed everything you read in the running journals about leaving the gizmos behind and just going out and running, I'd never get a chance to use my latest and greatest gadgets.
Case and point. Unknown to me, the latest pair of running shoes I bought from Nike are actually part of a new line known as Nike+ allowing me to use the shoes in tandem with an Apple iPod to view things like pace and distance on the screen of the iPod while I'm running. Cool, no?
Of course, to make this happen, you first need an iPod and second you need a receiver kit that goes in your shoe and synchs with the iPod. Guess what two purchases I made recently.
I disagree with the notion about leaving the gizmos at home. For me, a self-proclaimed computer geek, a big motivator for my running is the ability to upload all my data from each session and view maps of where I ran, how fast, and how far; I just think it's a neat thing to do. These gizmos really don't distract me from the joy of running in any way; one press of the button at the beginning and one press of the button at the end is pretty much the extent of my interaction with my gadgets during a run.
But boy how I do love to press that button at the end.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
The barriers to an active lifestyle...
Talk to anyone who's in shape and most often you'll hear that the road to a healthier lifestyle begins and ends with an active one.
With this in mind, on day one of my annual vacation, I recommended to my wife that we buy her a baseball glove and then head to a local park to throw the ball around - she agreed, but little did we know that most of that day's activity would come from walking into different stores trying to find her a baseball glove.
I guess, living in a somewhat remote area, we have to accept that the availability of certain products may prove to be, at times, frustrating. But honestly, not being able to purchase a baseball glove during the first week of August? Please! Luckily, in the fourth store we visited, we found one left-handed glove remaining for purchase and snapped it up.
Interestingly enough, though, had we wanted to purchase a hockey stick or ice skates, that wouldn't have been a problem in either of the four stores we visited.
Afterall, like I said, it is August.
With this in mind, on day one of my annual vacation, I recommended to my wife that we buy her a baseball glove and then head to a local park to throw the ball around - she agreed, but little did we know that most of that day's activity would come from walking into different stores trying to find her a baseball glove.
I guess, living in a somewhat remote area, we have to accept that the availability of certain products may prove to be, at times, frustrating. But honestly, not being able to purchase a baseball glove during the first week of August? Please! Luckily, in the fourth store we visited, we found one left-handed glove remaining for purchase and snapped it up.
Interestingly enough, though, had we wanted to purchase a hockey stick or ice skates, that wouldn't have been a problem in either of the four stores we visited.
Afterall, like I said, it is August.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Welcome back...
True to my word, I took ten days off from training since finishing the Tely 10 a couple of Sundays ago. One constant in my training programs is I never miss a rest period.
I was eager to get up this morning and jog for 20 minutes on the treadmill just to get my legs moving again; only the 20-minute jog turned into a five-minute jog/15-minute walk thanks to a "welcome back" shinsplint. As if my Tely 10 training wasn't injury-riddled enough.
Besides eating a few things I probably shouldn't have, the time off also allowed me to get caught up on my Runner's World reading and the lessons I'm taking forward are all about positive thinking. Accept the bad days, usurp the good ones, no matter how few and far between they may seem, but most importantly, stay in the moment - from now on, I won't be thinking about the miles ahead, but rather thinking about the next step I'm taking and then the next one after that - all of those steps combined lead to the finish.
Next up on my agenda is a half-marathon in Prince Edward Island in mid-October. I'm committed to getting in the best shape I've ever been in for a long time and participating in the event with 'Team Chancey'.
I can get there. One-step at a time.
I was eager to get up this morning and jog for 20 minutes on the treadmill just to get my legs moving again; only the 20-minute jog turned into a five-minute jog/15-minute walk thanks to a "welcome back" shinsplint. As if my Tely 10 training wasn't injury-riddled enough.
Besides eating a few things I probably shouldn't have, the time off also allowed me to get caught up on my Runner's World reading and the lessons I'm taking forward are all about positive thinking. Accept the bad days, usurp the good ones, no matter how few and far between they may seem, but most importantly, stay in the moment - from now on, I won't be thinking about the miles ahead, but rather thinking about the next step I'm taking and then the next one after that - all of those steps combined lead to the finish.
Next up on my agenda is a half-marathon in Prince Edward Island in mid-October. I'm committed to getting in the best shape I've ever been in for a long time and participating in the event with 'Team Chancey'.
I can get there. One-step at a time.
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